Valved bubble tube



fifip 6, W 9- R. A. SMITH 2,481,358

VALVED BUBBLE TUBE Filed April 27, 1948 JNI ENTOR. QZa/MQDALJMZTH A TTORNE YLS' Patented Sept. 6, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Richard; A. Smith, Cornwalf-on-Hudson, N. Y., assi'gnor to The Kentlee Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New'York Application April 27, 1948, Serial No. 28,430

5 Claims. 1

My present invention relates to ornamental bubble devices and primarily to an ornamental bubbling tube or candlestick in which the body of the tube comprises. an evacuated transparent or translucent tube containing a. low boiling point liquid such as alcohol dissolved in water or benzol.

Heretofore ornamental bubble devices utilizing low boiling point liquid in an evacuated tube have been utilized. for various.v display purposes and. decorativev efiects. Such. tubes havev been mounted in display holders and containers. Other types shown generally in Patents Nos. 2,162,897, 2,031,416, and 2,031,409 have comprised a holder or mounting device, a source of heat or light and a separate bubble device. or tube. The base or mounting for the display device provided means for holding a suitable. heat or light. source and means for supporting the bubble tubeso-that its lower end was in proximity to the heat or light source.

In bubbling tubes of this character, it is desirable first to concentrate the. heat in a localized area, preferably at the lower end or the tube, so that the tube will start. to bubble. rapidly without the necessity for waiting ior the entire volume of liquid to become heated and, second, to control the size of the bubbles so. that instead of an occasional. large size bubble a stream of small bubbles will form at the bottom of the tube and rise.

Various methods have been utilized tor this purpose, including constricted areas at thelowcr end of the tube primarily to control bubble size, as well as to localize a volume of liquid. which. will be heated more rapidly and, thereiore, begin to bubble sooner; porous materials or masses in the bottom of the tube, and various types of material which will act as so-called starters and have the combined effect of. localizing relatively small volumes of liquid to produce early bubbling and restricting the size of the bubbles.

My present invention is directed to a. novel and entirely difierent valve type arrangement for the combined purpose oi localizing a relatively small volume of liquid which will be rapid- 1y heated and for dividing the bubbles into a stream of small bubbles rather than occasional large bubbles.

The primary object of my invention, therefore, is the provision. of an an operated 2 valve at the lower end of the bubble tube enclosing. or defining a small volume of the liquid and controlling automatically the size of the bubbles released from the small volume of liquid. to rise through the upper end of the tube.

Another and more specific object of my invention is the provision. of a ball valve adjacent the lower end of the. tube seated in a constricted portion or the tube. and spaced above the lower end.

Another object of my invention comprises the division of the tube into a lower smaller chamber and an upper larger chamber by an annular constriction and seating a valve, preferably of the ball type, in the annular constriction.

The lower chamber defined by the annular constriction and by the ball valve seated there in provides a localized small volume of liquid which may be rapidly heated;

When the bubbles are formed, they seek to escape by rising. upwardly against the ball, thereby lifting the ball slightly to permit escape of the bubbles past the ball valve into the upper fluid filled chamber.

The large size bubble thlls formed beneath the ball valve escapes around the small annular space or arcuate space created by the lifting of the ball by the pressure of. the bubble. This. small annular or .arcuate space squeezes the large bubble, dividing it into a plurality of small. bubbles so that instead of a single large bubble rising occasi'onally through the liquid a stream oi smaller bubbles rise.

Another object of my invention is the con formationv of the low-er end of the bubble tube to act as a. valve seat without necessarily utilizing an annular indentation or constriction for purpose but depending on various types of shaping of the lower end of the chamber as, for instance, by shaping the lower end of the chamber in irustro-conical form.

The foregoing and many other objects of my invention will become apparent in the. following description and drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of one form which my novel bubble tube may take.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of ah alternate form which my novel bubble-tube. may take.

Referring now to Figure l, I have here shown a. bubble tube ii in the form of an ornamental candlestick having an upper chamber II and a lower chamber I2 defined by an annular recess or indentation I3 adjacent the bottom I4 of the tube.

The top I5 of the tube I0 may be shaped to simulate a candlestick. Various types of ornamental arrangements of the tube as suggested in the patents above-mentioned may be provided where desired.

The chambers II and I2 of the tube ID are filled with a liquid having a suitable low boiling point, such as alcohol dissolved in water or benzol, and the tube IIlis evacuated.

A porous mass 20 may be placed in the lower chamber I2. This porous mass may be of any suitable porous material which would produce a multiplicity of minute volumes of liquid which will reach a boiling point very quickly when subjected to the heat of the light bulb 2| over which the tube Ill is positioned.

Actually, because of the small volume of the chamber I2, the porous mass 20, which may be of a type well known in the art, is not necessary since it will only be required to heat up the small volume of liquid in chamber I2 to produce the bubbling action.

The inclusion of the porous mass will, however, permit practically immediate starting of the bubbling action when the heat source comprising light bulb 2| is turned on.

The chamber I2 is closed by the ball 22 which may be a glass ball or of other suitable material, the said ball 22 seating in the annular recess or constriction I3 and closing off the chamber I2.

When bubbles are formed in the chamber I2, they may be formed in large size bubbles or may collect as large size bubbles below the ball valve 22. When a sufiiciently large bubble has collected so that the upper pressure thereof is enough to lift the ball 22, the ball 22 will either be raised up slightly or will be tilted or rocked slightly to one side to permit the large bubble to escape upwardly.

The large bubble will squeeze past the small annular or arcuate space thus created, being divided by this small annular or arcuate space into a plurality of small bubbles so that instead of a single large bubble a multiplicity of small bubbles will rise in chamber I I.

The action I have found is essentially that the large bubble in chamber I2 pushes up or rolls up the ball 22 on one side of the indentation I3 sufficiently to permit a very small portion of the large bubble in chamber I2 to escape.

The ball 22 falls back and when the large bubble increases in size once more, it again pushes up the ball 22 sufiiciently to permit a small portion thereof to escape.

This action is so rapid, however, that a constant stream of small bubbles is rising in chamber II, the rate being such that from four to eight bubbles are rising one after the other in the tube III of the order of three inches long.

Instead of a porous mass in the lower chamber 20, an appropriate starting material'such as a coating of sugar may be placed on the surface of the ball 22 to concentrate the heat in small volumes of water and promote the rapid starting of the bubbles.

The fluid in the tube Ill may be appropriately colored so that the light from bulb 2I conducted therethrough will produce an appropriately pleasing effect.

The same principle that is herein described in connection with Figure 1 may be applied to various shapesor conformations of the bubble tube.

Thus, as shown in Figure 2, the bubble tube I I0 having the top II 5 and the base I I4 may have an upper chamber III and a lower tapered frustroconical chamber II2 so arranged that the ball I22 will seat against the sides of chamber II2 without touching the bottom I I4.

The operation here is identical with that previously described in Figure 1.

A porous mass may be included in chamber I I2 or the surface of the ball I22 may be appropriate- 1y coated. It is essential of course, that ball 22 of Figure 1 or ball I 22 of Figure 2 be of a greater density thanthe liquid in chambers III and H2 'or chambers I I and I2 so that it will seat against the upper end of the lower chamber and contain the large bubbles formed in the lower chamber until they develop sufiicient pressure to lift the ball or push it aside and thereby permit a small portion of the bubble to escape.

Various other shapes may, of course, be provided in order to provide an upper chamber and a lower chamber and a valve seat between the upper and lower chambers.

The valve opening need not necessarily be circular but may have any other appropriate shape, and the valve member 22 or I22 need not necessarilybe spherical but may also have any appropriate shape in order to seat properly in the constricted area which defines the lower chamber.

By this means, therefore, a continuous bubbling action is provided whereby the large bubbles generated at the lower end of the bubble tube are controlled and divided into a stream of rapidly rising small bubbles.

In the foregoing I have described my invention solely in connection with specific illustrative embodiments thereof. Since many variations and modifications of my invention will now be obvious to those skilled in the art, I prefer to be bound not by the specific disclosures herein contained but only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An ornamental bubbling device comprising a tube of light transmitting material having a lower chamber and an upper chamber; said chambers being evacuated and filled with a low boiling point liquid; a valve seat between said lower chamber and said upper chamber; and an upwardly displaceable spherical valve member resting on said valve seat.

2. An ornamental bubbling device comprising a tube of light transmitting material having a lower chamber and an upper chamber; said chambers being evacuated and filled with a low boiling point liquid; an annular valve seat between said lower 5 chamber and said upper chamber; and an upwardly displaceable spherical valve member resting on said valve seat.

3. An ornamental bubbling device comprising a tube of light transmitting material having a 0 lower chamber and an upper chamber; said chambers being evacuated and filled with a low boiling point liquid; an annular ledge in the interior of the tube defining the lower and the upper chamber and formin a valve seat between said lower chamber and said upper chamber; and an upwardly displaceable valve member resting on said valve seat.

4. An ornamental bubbling device comprising a tube of light transmitting material having a 0 lower chamber and an upper chamber; said chambers being evacuated and filled with a low boiling point liquid; an annular ledge in the interior of the tube defining the lower and the upper chamber and forming a valve seat between 5 said lower chamber and said upper chamber; and

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Otis July 4, 1944 Otis Sept. 4, 1945 

